Tuesday 17 July 2012

Admiralty Islands to Grenadier Island - July 14/12


part of the 60 sea doo poker rally


wind was good so we sailed thru the
Lake Fleet Islands




bonsai tree in the Navy Islands


in the narrows near Thousand Island Bridge


eddies and whirlpools



Canadian Coast Guard, playing in the eddies etc.


lots of currant in this area .. 2 knots


iceburg ????


small house on a very small Island


it took us a bit to find a suitable anchorage today ...
Grenadier Island behind Shanty Island


first sighting of a freighter  we are at anchorage


bringing supplies to island


working on the log, journal and blog


just living on the boat


Joe watching his laundry dry



in our anchorage .. boat from Whitby (EDGE)



building docks ... at a Federal Park


This was our Trent-Severn pass .. before we removed it from boat


Sunday morning breakfast ... 

Saturday July 14/12
Admiralty Island (1000 Islands) - Grenadier Island
Okay, we where a bit worried about the underwater hydro cable, from island to island  ....  well only one of us was worried - ME
We made sure we motored ahead and Joe had to scoop off tons of weeds ... the chain was so loaded that Joe had a hard time, even with the windlass.  Anchor up and everyone on the islands still have their hydro.
We motored back to the Canadian Middle Channel and the wind picked up, so we put out our foresail and motor off.  We where sailing 5 - 6 knots all the way thru The Lake Fleet Islands and the start of Navy Islands...
A security call on VHF announcing a fleet of 60 sea doo's on a poker rally run, coming our way and yes they did come and come and come.
We had read (Ports Book) on the Thousand Island Bridge area and knew we had to pass between Ash Island and Wallace Island.  The entire volume of Lake Ontario funnels thru this area.  There is whirlpools and eddies and an underwater waterfall that drops into a plunge pool .... here the depth changes rapidly from 60 - 200 ft.  And there is a channel called
"Lost Channel" ... now that's another story.
Somewhere around 11:30 we where approaching the International Thousand Island Bridge with about 10 other boats, in this small canal, motoring 2 knots but going 4 knots.  The Canadian Coast Guard appeared to our port side, and they motioned for the driver to come up behind us  .. I thought what the  .. in these waters .. are you crazy !!   I then realized they were teaching the driver to play in the whirlpools and eddies, they veered off.
We wanted to anchor in Buck's bay, just past the bridge on the port side, it was easy to get into and probably a great place to anchor.  It was 45 ft deep and then a shelf of 6 ft.  I'm sure if you knew the area and conditions you would be okay.   We left there and then tried Club Island, it looked perfect on the chart, but it was so populated with docks on both sides .. So we tried the other side of Club Island, close to the U.S. Border  . It was a channel 27 - 31 ft deep, but quickly came to 3 ft on each side ..... oh brother 
So on we went to Grenedier Island, it was so hot and frustrating ... we saw a small Island Shanty Island  to port and decided to check it out.  The water depth went from 80 ft to 20 ft to 6 ft instantly.  When we rounded the hook, we saw a larger than us sailboat (Edge), from Whitby, Ontario, anchored.
Okay this is " home " for tonight.  We had to circle a few times because the depth was 25 ft then 8 ft.   
" LIFE'S EXCITING "
Just before we found this anchorage the US. Coast Guard came up to us from behind , and stayed to your starboard side and got the binoculars out, to check us out ... I thought maybe we slipped in to U.S. waters, but we didn't.  They stayed for a bit then left ....  Maybe it was because I was in my bathing suit, with PDF on driving the boat .... haha not
Both of us swam and did laundry, had lunch and checked our phones.  Both phones came up that we where to be charged roaming fees.  So we didn't use them.
We saw our first freighter (we where at anchor) and 2 hours later another.
We are still trying to figure out our new auto pilot "Simrad" - it sent us
in circles the last time we used it.
Our "Standard Horizon" chart plotter is working like a charm ... we are also playing with the radar unit - splitting the screen to see both radar and chart.

























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